Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 14,599 Shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 897,245 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,599 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Black Hills were worth $52,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Black Hills by 66.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 182.8% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Black Hills by 181.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Black Hills by 373.2% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Black Hills by 83.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Scotiabank cut their target price on Black Hills from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

Black Hills Stock Performance

NYSE BKH opened at $58.33 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.97. Black Hills Co. has a 52-week low of $50.73 and a 52-week high of $65.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.09.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.17. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 7.82%. On average, research analysts predict that Black Hills Co. will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.676 per share. This is an increase from Black Hills’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.64%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.88%.

Black Hills Company Profile

Black Hills Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as an electric and natural gas utility company in the United States. The company operates in two segments: Electric Utilities and Gas Utilities. The Electric Utilities segment generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 222,000 electric utility customers in Colorado, Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming; and owns and operates 1,394 megawatts of generation capacity and 9,106 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines.